“When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes, but the godly will live to see their downfall.” Pro 29:16 NLT
There is both an observation and a promise in this week’s Proverb. The observation: “when the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes.” The promise? “The godly will live to see their downfall.” Wickedness ends in destruction, godliness doesn’t end, and leads to life!
There is a principle at work here – and one that has been seen again and again in the world. The more the wicked increase in a society, the more that the society will turn toward wickedness. This is not a recent phenomenon – it has been happening ever since the fall of man. When the wicked increase, transgression among men increases as well. But in the end the righteous will see their fall. Wickedness cannot reign long in a land – it consumes it to a point of catastrophe. It did so in Noah’s day – and we read that as it was in the days of Noah, so also it shall be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.
How can we keep the wicked from increasing? The answer lies in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the ONLY way that we can stem the tide of the wicked multiplying on the earth. We must multiply! We must be about sharing Jesus Christ with all who are around us. We must take the one thing that can take a wicked heart and transform it into a godly one. That one thing is the gospel of Jesus Christ! Jesus sent us into the world to make disciples of all the nations. This, and only this, can stand against the wicked and their wickedness multiplying in a society! May God give us grace to accept no substitutes in this matter – no political or social or military option, which in the end will only fail. May we see that the glorious mandate to minister the gospel – and make disciples IS God’s only answer for our world!
This week be a minister of the Gospel and help to defeat the wickedness in this world.
In His Hands,
John
